BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 794|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 794
Author: Committee on Human Services
Amended: 6/2/15
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE: 5-0, 4/28/15
AYES: McGuire, Berryhill, Hancock, Liu, Nguyen
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
SUBJECT: Child welfare services
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill addresses state compliance with the federal
Preventing Sex Trafficking, and Strengthening Families Act
(Public Law 113-183).
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes in federal law the Preventing Sex Trafficking, and
Strengthening Families Act which includes new requirements for
states and counties regarding sex trafficking prevention and
reporting, data collection, reasonable and prudent parent
standards, adoption incentives payments, successor
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guardianship, and successful adulthood. (Public Law 113-183)
2)Requires each state to have a state plan approved by the
Secretary of Health and Human Services in order to be eligible
for payments under Title IV-E, and establishes the requisite
features of a state plan. (42 U.S. Code § 671)
3)Provides that a child who is sexually trafficked, as defined,
and whose parent or guardian failed to, or was unable to,
protect the child, is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile
court and shall be known as commercially sexually exploited
children. (WIC 300 (b) (2))
4)Establishes the California Fostering Connections to Success
Act (AB 12, Beall and Bass, Chapter 559 Statutes of 2010),
which corresponds with the federal Fostering Connections to
Success Act that provides an option for states to receive
federal financial participation for federally-eligible
nonminor dependents or former dependents of the juvenile court
who are between the ages of 18 and 21 and who satisfy certain
conditions, and provides for state-only extended benefits for
non-federally eligible youth. (WIC 11403)
5)Establishes multiple programs of support for dependent or
former dependent children and the families that care for them.
Each of the federally reimbursed programs has a corollary
state-only funded program for children who are not eligible
under Aid to Families with Dependent Children income
eligibility criteria from 1996 including:
Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care;
(WIC 11401)
Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program; (WIC
11360; WIC 11385)
Adoption Assistance Program; (WIC 16115)
Non Relative Legal Guardianship; (WIC 11405)
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CalWORKs (for non-Title IV-E eligible children in
foster care residing with relatives). (WIC 11250)
1)Defines a "reasonable and prudent parent standard" as the
standard characterized by careful and sensible parental
decisions that maintain the child's health, safety, and best
interest. (WIC 362.04)
2)Provides that every dependent child shall be entitled to
participate in age-appropriate extracurricular, enrichment,
and social activities, as specified. Requires group homes and
specified caregivers to use the reasonable and prudent parent
standard in determining whether to permit a child to
participate in extracurricular, enrichment, and social
activities. (WIC 362.05)
3)Requires, upon the 16th birthday of a child in foster care, a
county welfare or probation department to request a free
annual credit check available under the Fair Credit Reporting
Act, from each of the three major credit reporting agencies
and for specified documentation pertaining to this requirement
be included in the youth's case plan, as specified. (WIC
10618.6(a) and 16501.1)
This bill:
1) Requires licensed community care facilities that provide care
and supervision to children to designate at least one onsite
staff member to apply the reasonable and prudent parent
standards, as specified.
2) Requires a licensed or certified foster parent or facility
staff member to receive training related to the reasonable
and prudent parent standard, including knowledge and skills
relating to the standard for the participation of the child
in age and developmentally appropriate activities, as
specified.
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3) Amends the definition of the reasonable and prudent parent
standard to mean the standard characterized by careful and
sensible parental decisions that maintain the health, safety,
and best interests of a child while at the same time
encouraging the emotional and developmental growth of the
child.
4) Expands the definition of sexual exploitation to include a
person who sexually trafficks a child or commercially
sexually exploits a child, as specified.
5) Requires county probation or child welfare agencies to
immediately, or in no case more than 24 hours, notify the law
enforcement agency with jurisdiction over a case when a known
or suspected instance of child abuse involves an allegation
of sexual exploitation, as defined.
6) Requires county probation or child welfare agencies to
immediately, or in no case more than 24 hours, notify the law
enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the case when a
child or youth who is receiving child welfare services and is
known or suspected to be the victim of sexual exploitation is
missing or has been abducted, so that the incident can be
entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC)
database of the FBI and to the National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children.
7) Requires the California Department of Social Services (CDSS)
to inquire about a dependent child's credit history at the
age of 14 instead of 16 and for specified documentation to be
included in a case plan of a youth 14 years of age or older.
8) Provides that a successor kinship guardian or co-guardian may
be appointed by the juvenile court only when the reason for
the appointment is the death or incapacity of the kinship
guardian and the successor guardian is named in the kinship
guardianship assistance agreements, as specified.
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9) Clarifies that the foster care education training programs
provided to relative and nonrelative extended family members
under existing law are aligned with the training requirements
established for licensed or certified foster parents, and
include training on the reasonable and prudent parent
standard, provided for in the bill.
10)Requires no less than 30% of savings realized from the
provision of new federal funding for adoption assistance
resulting from the Fostering Connections to Success and
Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 shall be spent on
post-adoption services, post-guardianship services, and
services to support and sustain positive permanent outcomes
for children who otherwise might enter into foster care.
11)Requires at least two-thirds of the above 30% to be spent on
post adoption and post guardianship services.
12)Adds to the requirement to reinvest adoption incentive
payments, the requirement to reinvest guardianship incentive
payments received through the Fostering Connections to
Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 and the
Preventing Sex Trafficking, and Strengthening Families Act
into the child welfare system, as specified.
13)Replaces the term "independent living" with "successful
adulthood" in describing requirements pertaining to a
nonminor dependent's case plan.
14)Provides that for youth 14 years of age or older, the youth's
case plan shall be developed in consultation with the youth.
Provides that, at the youth's option, the consultation may
include up to two members of the case planning team who are
chosen by the youth, as specified. Permits the child welfare
agency to reject an individual under specified circumstances.
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15)Provides that for youth 14 years of age or older, the case
plan shall include specified documentation related to the
youth rights and a signed acknowledgement that the youth has
been provided with a copy of the document and the rights
described to the youth in an age-appropriate manner.
16)Requires a case plan for a child or nonminor dependent who
is, or is at risk of becoming, the victim of commercial
sexual exploitation, to document the services provided to
address that issue.
17)Requires county child welfare agencies to develop and
implement policies and procedures that, at a minimum, require
social workers and probation officers to do the following:
Identify children receiving child welfare services,
including dependents or wards in foster care, nonminor
dependents, and youth receiving services under the John H.
Chafee Foster Care Independence Program.
Document individuals identified in the Child Welfare
Services/Case Management System and any other agency
record, as specified.
Determine appropriate services for a child identified.
1) Requires county child welfare agencies, on or before July 1,
2016, to develop and implement specific protocols to
expeditiously locate any child missing from foster care.
Specifically requires these protocols, at a minimum to do the
following:
Determine the primary factors that contributed to the
child or nonminor dependent running away or otherwise
being absent from care.
Respond to those factors in subsequent placements, to
the extent possible.
Determine the child's or nonminor's experiences while
absent from care.
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Determine whether the child or nonminor is a possible
sex trafficking victim.
1) Requires CDSS to ensure the Child Welfare Services (CWS)/Case
Management System (CMS) is capable of collection all of the
following:
The number of dependent children or wards in foster
care who were victims of commercial sexual exploitation
before entering foster care.
The number of dependent children or wards in foster
care who became victims of commercial sexual exploitation
while in foster care.
The numbers of dependent children or wards in foster
care who go missing, run away, or are otherwise absent
from care and were commercially sexually exploited during
the time away from placement.
The number of dependent children or wards in foster
care who are at risk of becoming victims of commercial
sexual exploitation.
Background
The Preventing Sex Trafficking, and Strengthening Families Act
(Public Law 113-183) was signed by President Obama on September
29, 2014. The Act makes numerous changes to the title IV-E
foster care program and enacts new requirements regarding sex
trafficking prevention and reporting, data collection,
reasonable and prudent parent standards, adoption incentives
payments, successor guardianship, and successful adulthood.
Sex trafficking prevention and data collection. According to the
federal Administration for Children and Families, the new law
requires title IV-E agencies to demonstrate, by September 29,
2015, that policies and procedures have been developed to
identify, document, and determine appropriate services for a
child or nonminor dependent who is or who is at risk of becoming
a sex trafficking victim, has run away from home, or is
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receiving services under the Chafee Foster Care Independence
Program. By September 29, 2016, state agencies must demonstrate
that they are implementing these policies and procedures.
Also by September 29, 2015, title IV-E agencies must develop and
implement protocols to locate children and nonminor dependents
missing from foster care, determine the factors that lead to the
youth's absence from foster care and, to the extent possible,
address those factors in subsequent placements, determine the
youth's experiences while absent from care, including whether
the youth is a sex trafficking victim, and report related
information as required.
By September 29, 2016, the Act also requires title IV-E agencies
to report immediately (no later than 24 hours) to law
enforcement when a child or nonminor dependent is identified to
be a victim of sex trafficking. Additionally, by the same year,
agencies must develop and implement protocols to report
immediately (no later than 24 hours after receiving information)
to law enforcement information on missing or abducted youth
receiving child welfare services who are identified as being, or
are at risk of being, a victim of sex trafficking, for entry
into the NCIC database, and to the National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children.
Comments
The California Department of Social Services writes that "to
continue to be eligible for federal funds, the state's laws
governing programs?must be in compliance with federal statute
and regulations. When state statute is out of compliance,
legislation is needed to conform state law to federal
requirements. For these reasons, it is important for SB 794 to
move forward."
Prior Legislation
SB 855 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, Chapter 29, Statutes
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of 2014) provided $5 million initially, and $14 million General
Fund ongoing, to enable county child welfare agencies to provide
services to child victims of commercial sexual exploitation to
enable county child welfare agencies to serve victims of
commercial sexual exploitation.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Federal compliance: Annual costs of $4.2 million ($1.7
million General Fund*) for new workload to child welfare
services and probation departments to comply with several
provisions of federal law including the development of case
plans, documentation related to the reasonable and prudent
parent standards, and notification of relatives. These costs
are budgeted in the 2015-16 May Revision.
Commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) protocols
compliance: Annual costs to local agencies in the millions of
dollars (General Fund*/Local Fund/Federal) to develop and
implement policies and procedures that identify, document, and
determine appropriate services for youth identified as
runaways/missing or CSEC. The 2015-16 May Revision includes
$20.2 million ($14 million General Fund) in 2015-16 to support
both federally required and elective county program activities
for CSEC. It is estimated $3.6 million General Fund will be
utilized for federal compliance activities.
Child abuse reporting: Non-reimbursable local costs for
reporting to law enforcement within 24 hours, as required by
federal law.
CWS/CMS enhancements: Unknown, potentially significant
automation costs (General Fund) to enable CWS/CMS to collect
specified information on youth identified as missing/runaways
or CSEC.
Proposition 30: Exempts the state from mandate reimbursement
for realigned programs, however, legislation that has an
overall effect of increasing the costs already borne by a
local agency for realigned programs including child welfare
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services, apply to local agencies only to the extent that the
state provides annual funding for the cost increase. For
changes in federal law, the state is required to annually
provide at least 50% of the nonfederal share of increased
costs to local agencies as determined by the state.
SUPPORT: (Verified6/1/15)
District Attorney of Alameda County
Junior League of San Diego
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/1/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the authors, this bill makes
statutory changes necessary to ensure state compliance with the
federal Preventing Sex Trafficking, and Strengthening Families
Act as identified by CDSS.
The Senate Committee on Human Services states that every year
CDSS must ensure that state laws pertaining to public social
services are in compliance with federal statute and regulations.
When CDSS determines that existing state statute is out of
compliance, legislation is introduced to conform state law to
federal requirements. Last year the Senate Committee on Human
Services introduced federal compliance bill SB 1460 (Committee
on Human Services, Chapter 772, Statutes of 2014) that ensured
state compliance with federal statute and regulation regarding
the Multi Ethnic Placement Act, use of the Federal Parent
Locator Service, the federal Fostering Connections to Success
and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, and the Adam Walsh Act.
Prepared by:Sara Rogers / HUMAN S. / (916) 651-1524
6/3/15 9:09:58
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